By Craig Watson, Head of Product & Design at Nimble Approach
This blog explores why technology struggles often stem from organisational structure, not the tech itself, and how applying the Inverse Conway Manoeuvre and a product operating model can unlock faster delivery, better alignment, and improved outcomes.
At Nimble, we spend a lot of time talking to business and technology leaders in both the public and private sectors. Regardless of the industry, the conversations often start with a similar list of frustrations. Organisations are seeing inefficiencies in operations and a growing disappointment with the return on investment in their technology.
While these organisations are working harder than ever, they often feel like they are losing ground. Competitors are outmaneuvering them through innovation, customer feedback is trending downward, and the cost of supporting existing systems is skyrocketing. Perhaps most painfully, it simply takes too long to get new initiatives and projects out of the door.
When they see these issues, the knee jerk reaction is often to look at the technology itself. However, treating technology in isolation is usually a distraction – the issues listed above are actually symptoms, not the disease.
To find the cure, we have to look at the root causes: a reliance on output focused delivery and the invisible hand of Conway’s Law.
The Invisible Hand: Conway’s Law
Melvin Conway famously coined the idea that organisations design systems that are constrained to produce designs that are copies of the communication structures of these organisations. In simpler terms: You ship your org chart.
If your teams are siloed, your product will be fragmented. If your design, engineering, and business functions sit in different rooms (physically or metaphorically), your customer experience will feel disjointed.
A relatable example of this is the development of portable digital music and the contrast of fortunes between Sony and Apple in the early 2000s.
On paper, Sony should have won the digital music revolution. The company owned a massive music catalogue through its record division and had dominated the portable hardware market for two decades with the Walkman and Discman. All the pieces were in place.
However, Sony’s internal communication structures were fractured. There was a deep disconnect between the music division (who wanted to protect copyright), the devices division, and their software approach. Because of these internal silos, they physically couldn’t innovate or build a cohesive user experience.
In contrast, Apple organised themselves without those rigid divisions. Their strategy relied on tightly integrated software and hardware, managed by teams that communicated across boundaries – in other words, they structured themselves and communicated across a complete end-to-end value chain. Apple didn’t just build the iPod; they built an ecosystem with iTunes and the iPod because their organisational structure allowed for that level of integration. Sony, bound by Conway’s Law, could not.
The Inverse Conway Manoeuvre
So, how do we avoid Sony’s fate? We apply what is known as the Inverse Conway Manoeuvre.
If we know that our organisational structure dictates our product architecture, we must re-design our organisation and ways of working around value streams rather than functional silos. This restructuring is the heart of the product operating model.
Transforming towards a product operating model helps alleviate a negative Conway’s Law position. It shifts the focus from “Projects” which are temporary, output focused efforts to “Products,” which are enduring, outcome focused value streams.
Three Themes of Transformation
Adopting this model isn’t just about shuffling desks; it requires a fundamental shift in mindset. As Marty Cagan articulates in his book Transformed, this transformation can be viewed across three key themes:
- Changing how you build products: This involves moving away from large, monolithic “waterfall” releases toward frequent, small releases. It means empowering cross-functional teams – bringing together engineers, interaction designers, and product managers to collaborate daily rather than in disconnected hand-offs and giving these people the data about how the product is being used.
- Changing how you solve problems: Instead of stakeholders handing teams a solution to build, the focus should shift to handing them a problem to solve. This leverages the full creativity of the team and ensures we are designing for user needs, not just stakeholder wants. Decisions are best made by the people that are closest to the users and the technology. They do this through product discovery, experimentation, and chasing a shorter time to value.
- Changing how you decide which problems to solve: This is where genuine product leadership is necessary to understand the opportunities and threats ahead. A clear and engaging product vision is needed in order to provide the basis in which to anchor decisions and is then complemented with a product strategy based on value and data, ensuring that every effort contributes to maximising the return on investment.
How Nimble Can Help
Transitioning to a product operating model is a complex journey, but you don’t have to do it alone.
At Nimble Approach, we work with you to examine your existing operating model and assess it against our product operating model maturity framework. This assessment is designed to uncover exactly where and how your organisation is being held back, specifically identifying disconnected value streams and the inefficiencies that result.
We spend time with you to deeply understand your landscape, and collaborate with you to create a tailored set of recommendations and a practical transformation roadmap. Whether you need high level product management coaching to shift leadership mindsets, or skilled professionals to fill roles and help you recruit your own permanent staff, Nimble can support that growth.
Great products don’t happen by accident. They happen when you design your organisation to support them.
Recommended reading / references:
Cagan, M., Hickman, L., Idiodi, C. and Jones, C., Moore, J. (2024) Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model. John Wiley & Sons.
Perri, M. (2018) Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value. O’Reilly Mediaoduct, Design, and Engineering together from the start, we help teams move with momentum, make smarter decisions, and deliver meaningful impact for customers and the business alike.
